Adjustable sieve



F. M. FORGESON, ADJUSTABLE SIEVE. APPLICATION FILED APR.5. 1922.

' Patented; Oct 3, 1922 EASWSSG,

rtonnncn M. ronensolr, or

GOLDEEDALE, WASHING-TGN.

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Application filed April 5,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l FLORENCE M. Fencin- SON, a citizen of the limited States, residing at Groldendale, in the county of Klickitat and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Sieves, of which the followin is a specification, reference being had to t e accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to sieves and particularly to sieves for use in the preparation of food. 1

An object of the invention is to provide a sieve of this character wherein the mate rial to be sifted may be sifted as many times as is necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sieve of this character wherein the various sieves are disposed one upon the other within the sifting receptacle and may be removed according to the number of times it is necessary to sift the material, only one sifting operation, however, being necessary.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of this character wherein a plurality of sieves are provided with means for agitatin the material within the sieves, certain portions of said means being removable when certain of the sieves are removed, so as to retain only the agitators" necessary for the sieves remaining in the receptacle.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more particularly described, fully claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1. is a longitudinal sectional view of an adjustable sieve constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the various sections of the shaft disassembled;

g 1gure 3 is a perspective view of the sieves; an

Figure 4c is a fragmentary perspective view showing the guard plate on the handle.

Referring to the drawings, 5 designates a sitting receptacle, open at its top and bottom, the top of the receptacle being canted to provide a spout 6, while disposed inward- 1y of the lower end or bottom 7, is an annularly extending flange 8. One side portion of the receptacle 5 is provided with a slot 9, a plurality of guides 10 being disposed.

1922. Serial 1W0. 5l9,779.

adjacent the slot, the purpose of which will 7 materials, such as flour, be sifted a number of times before used, some recipes calling for one sifting of the flour, while others call for two, three, and some five, sittings of 'the flour, while others call for more, but five sittings being the largest number commonly used. To use a single sitter and sift the flour in five separate operations, not only requires time, but usually wastes the flour.

With this invention, only one sitting operation is necessary to sift the flour the required number of times called for in the recipe. This is made possible through the provision of a multiplicity of sieves designated 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Each of the sieves consist of a band or body member 16 having a portion thereof cut away to proide a recess 17, the portion 18 of the body member beneaththe recess being extended inwardly. A screen mesh 19 of any "desired material may be placed in the sieves, the mesh in each sieve may be of difierent gauge, for instance,'the lowermost sieve would have a very fine mesh, while the adjacent sieves would have a coarser mesh, the uppermost sieve having the coarsest mesh of all; In this way, a dificrent sifting operation takes place in each sieve until the material passes through the finest mesh or sieve.

lhe lowermost sieve 11 is adapted to be placed within the receptacle upon the annular flange 8, with the recessed portion 17 thereof disposed adjacent the side of the receptacle provided with the opening 9. Each of the remaining sieves 12, 13, 14c and 15 are placed one upon the other so as to provide a tier of sieves, the sieves being immovable. By this means, two sieves, three sieves, four sieves, or the entire set may be placed in the receptacle according to the needs of the food being prepared.

To agitate the material placed in the sieves, a novel agitating mechanism is provided, said mechanism consisting of a sectional shaft including a main upper or end section 20, and a main lower or opposite end section 21. The section 20 has its end portion 22 journaled in a bearing 23 carried by the receptacle 5 above the opening 9, whilethe opposite end portion of the shaft 20 is reduced to provide a sqnare or many sided shank 25. An operating handle 26 is threaded into the shaft 20 adjacent the end 24, said handle being adapted to extend through the opening 9 of the receptacle. A plate 27 is carried by the handle 26, said plate being slidable in the guides 10 so as to close the opening or slot 9 and prevent the escape of the material when the agitating means 15 in use. The extremityof the end portion 21 is journaled in a bearing 21 carried by the lower portion of the receptacle ad acent the flange 8. The sectional shaft may be adjusted according to the number of sieves used. For instance, when all five sieves are used, a plurality of sections 28, 29, 30 and 31 are employed, each of said sections having one end thereof provided with a socket 32, while the opposite end is reduced to provide a square or many-sided shank 33, the shank of one section being adapted to enter the socket of the adjacent section, so as to complete the shaft and thereby connect the end portion 21 of the shaft to the end portion 20.

Projecting from each of the sections 21, 28, 29, 30 and 31 is an agitating member 34 consisting of a length of wire having one end thereof secured to the section adjacent the shank thereof, said wire being'extended outwardly, downwardly and then outwardly, and formed into a loop. The outwardly and downwardly extending portions of the agitator are adapted to extend over the portion 18 of the sieve so as to permit movement of the agitator without contact with the adjacent portion of the sieve. Each of the agitators is intended to oscillate within the sieve so as to move the material from one side to the other and'thereby sift the same from one sieve to the other. In view of the fact that the shanks are squared, each section is properly connected to the adjacent section, so that only one operating handle is necessary to simultaneously actuate all of the agitators.

If it is only necessary to sift the flour once, the sieves above the sieve 11 are removed and likewise the corresponding agitators of the shaft removed by disconnecting the handle 26 from the section 20 and moving said section upwardly through the bearing 23. A shaft 35 may then be substituted and the section 20 lowered to connect the end agitator 27 with the end section 20 of the shaft, so that it is not necessary to retain the various agitating means after the sections are removed. This feature facilitates the removal of the various sieves. In addition to the sec I tion 35, shaft sections 36. 37 and38 are provided, so as to take the place of the various agltatmgsections that have been removed, and permit operation of the remaining agitating sections through the medium of the handle 26. The shaft section 35 is relatively long, the remaining sections graduating in length, the sections provided with the agitating means being the shortest. The sections 35, 36, 37 and 38, each have a socket in one end and a reduced shank at the opposite end similar to the sections 21, 28, 29, 30 and 31.

In connection with the receptacle 5, a receiving receptacle 89 is provided, said receptacle having a discharge spout a0 and 'a flange ll dis osed inwardly thereof adjacent the top of the receptacle, said flange being adapted to support the receptacle 5 so that the material passing through the receptacle 5 may be discharged into the receptacle 39 without waste.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that this invention provides a novel form of Sifter wherein material such as flour may be sifted any number of times by asingle sifting operation, and wherein the various sieves and agitating means may be removed and the remaining agitating means connected to the operating handle to permit sifting of the material as desired, and all these features are possessed by a device which is simple in construction and easily adjusted and operated.

What is claimed is 1. A sifting device comprising a receptacle having its top and bottom portions open, one side portion of the receptacle being provided with a slot, a flange carried by the lower portion of the receptacle and extended inwardly thereof, a plurality of sieves disposed within the receptacle, one upon the other, each sieve having a recess in oneportion thereof, a sectional shaft, one section of said shaft being ournaled in the lower portion of said receptacle, the opposite end section ofthe shaft being journaled in the opposite end portion of the receptacle, and sections interposed between said end sections for connecting said sections to each other, certain of said sections being provided wit-h agitating means adapted to extend through the recesses in the sieves, and means carried by the uppermost end'section of the shaft for oscillating the agitating means within their respective sieves.

2. A sifting device comprising a receptacle having itstop and bottom portions open, a socket carried by the lower portion of the side wall of the receptacle, a bearing member carried by the side wall, at the upper portion of the receptacle substantially in alignment with the socket, a plurality of sieves disposed within the receptacle one upon the other, each sieve having a portion of its wall reduced and extended inwardly to pro-' vide a recess and an entrance opening for the sieve, an agitating shaft disposed within the receptacle, said shaft comprising a plu rality of sections, each section having a socket in one end and a tongue at its opposite end, the socket of one section being adapted to receive the tongue of the matinee adjacent section, the top section having an operating handle projecting therefrom at right angles to said section and through the wall of thereceptacle, the remaining sections being provided with agitating means disposed Within the sieves and adapted to extend through the entrance opening, the recessed portions of said sieves being disposed in alignment for the reception of the sectional shaft, the intermediate sections of the shaft being removable and substituted by shaft sections not provided with agitating means whereby the number of sieves within the receptacle may be decreased or increased.

A sifting device comprising a receptacle open at its top and bottom, an annular flange projecting inwardly of the wall of the receptacle at the lower end thereof, a plurality of sieves disposed one upon the other, the lowermost sieve engaging the flange, each sieve including a frame, a portion of the frame being cut away and extended inwardly, said inwardly extending portion of each frame being disposed in alignment and cooperating with the wall of the receptacle to provide a compartment for the reception of an oscillating sectional shaft. said shaft being journaled on the side wall of the receptacle, the cut away portions of each frame providing openings for the reception of agitating means connected to the sections of the shaft and disposed within the sieves.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

FLORENCE M. FORGESON. 

